Running Agenda 2
General Update
Negotiations with the Alfonso Valle Castillo farming cooperative (on property #1) have continued to proceed smoothly with a gentleman’s agreement recently being reached. Specifically, the cooperative has agreed to sell between 7 ½ - 8 ½ manzanas of their 83 manzana property at US$5,000 per manzana. Based upon the following assumptions, the total price of the land purchase should be around US$45,000 (including expenses). At this price, we are significantly below the US$100,000 budget.
On Tuesday 3rd October management journeyed again to the island with 3 topographers to officially calculate the size of the property we wish to purchase, map out its boundaries and localize the closest electricity posts & existing water tubing. We expect the finalized topographical plans to be ready on Friday 6th October. With this said all indications show the official size of the purchase will be between 7 ½ and 8 manzanas (or 52,500 m2 – 56,000m 2). (N.B The reason we do not know, at this moment and without the map, the exact size of the land is because we have chosen to follow the natural contours of the land rather than simply taking a pre-determined rectangle.)
It should be noted, the circa 7 ½ manzanas we are looking to purchase is greater than the original 20,000m2 originally stated in the business plan. The reason for this deviation in strategy is a consequence of us being able to purchase more land for our money on the island in comparison to the Pacific Coast. Management fully believes the 7 ½ manzanas is not excessive but rather will be put to good use and will also safeguard our future by permit growth.
Additional photos of the land have now been posted on the blog (www.casa-tortuga.blogspot.com) under the photo album section and named Alfonso Valle Castillo.
Incorporation of Nicaraguan S.A & Banking
The final step in this process has now been completed with the opening of a bank account for Casa Tortuga Nicaragua S.A. The bank we are using is called Banco Uno and they have offices throughout the country including Rivas which is the closest office to the island.
We wil soon transfer the funds necessary for the purchase of the land from the holding account in the Netherlands to the Nicaraguan account. The tranfer amount will be in the vicinity of US$45k. (The exact figure is dependent upon the officially mapped size of purchased property.)
Building & Layout Design
After consulting with the supervisory board, it has been decided that professional advice will be sought before the actual purchase of land.
To this end, José Luis Hernández of Arquitectos Ambientalistas in Managua is planned to visit the property with us on Wednesday 11th October in order to provide his expert opinion as to the suitability of the land for constructing the Eco-lodge and our ability to do this within our planned budget. This will be the beginning of Mr Hernández´s work with us and will extend, in time, to developing a building plan and architectural sketches.
Energy & Infrastructure
We have had our first meeting with Union Fenosa (power distributor) on the island and have been advised to visit the Masaya office once we have the land title and corresponding map in order to get official permission to connect to the existing power grid. With only the site-map we will be able to get a proposal from a private company who realize connections for Union Fenosa.
Creation of the road will be one of the first tasks undertaken on the land in order to facilitate vehicle access to the building platforms. It is believed that the development of the road will not require a bulldozer but rather utilize manual labour. We will be acquiring the professional opinion of our ecological architect in relation to the path that the road should take. This advice will supplement the knowledge management is currently acquiring.
Title Checks
Having reached a basic agreement with the Alfonso Valle Castillo Cooperative we are now focussing completely on this property which we have identified as the preferred site. The first legal check of the documents has come back positive. More recently we were recommended another reputable lawyer in Rivas and will be approaching them soon to commence the second independent title check.
Relocation of Casa Tortuga
Assuming the land purchase proceeds and finalizes, it will become ever more important for us to be closer to the property while we undertake planning, design and construction phases. To make this happen, we are currently enquiring as to the availability of rental properties on the island with a view to moving their in the next month or so. We will keep you posted.
Next Steps:
5th/10 – 11th/10 – Realize 2nd title check on property
6th/10 – Obtain official topographical plan/map
9th/10 – Visit Union Fenosa office in Masaya to obtain information
10th/10 - 11th/10 – Consult with José Luis Hernández of Arquitectos Ambientalistas
12th/10 – Arrange date for creation of Sale of Contract with Alfonso Valle Castillo Cooperative
Ongoing – Research into relevant ecological design & construction topics;
· Dry Composting Toilets
· Natural Swimming Pools
· Permaculture Design
· Earthbag Construction (Superadobe)
· Natural Plastering
· Road Construction
· Self Sufficiency
· Renewable Energy
· Interior Design
- Search for rental property on Isla de Ometepe
Important Sources:
Permaculture, A Designers Manual, Bill Mollison
Earthbag Building, Kaki Hunter and Donald Kiffmeyer
The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency, John Seymour
Building Green, Clarke Snell and Tim Callahan
International Technology Development Group – Practical Answers to Poverty, www.itdg.org
Negotiations with the Alfonso Valle Castillo farming cooperative (on property #1) have continued to proceed smoothly with a gentleman’s agreement recently being reached. Specifically, the cooperative has agreed to sell between 7 ½ - 8 ½ manzanas of their 83 manzana property at US$5,000 per manzana. Based upon the following assumptions, the total price of the land purchase should be around US$45,000 (including expenses). At this price, we are significantly below the US$100,000 budget.
On Tuesday 3rd October management journeyed again to the island with 3 topographers to officially calculate the size of the property we wish to purchase, map out its boundaries and localize the closest electricity posts & existing water tubing. We expect the finalized topographical plans to be ready on Friday 6th October. With this said all indications show the official size of the purchase will be between 7 ½ and 8 manzanas (or 52,500 m2 – 56,000m 2). (N.B The reason we do not know, at this moment and without the map, the exact size of the land is because we have chosen to follow the natural contours of the land rather than simply taking a pre-determined rectangle.)
It should be noted, the circa 7 ½ manzanas we are looking to purchase is greater than the original 20,000m2 originally stated in the business plan. The reason for this deviation in strategy is a consequence of us being able to purchase more land for our money on the island in comparison to the Pacific Coast. Management fully believes the 7 ½ manzanas is not excessive but rather will be put to good use and will also safeguard our future by permit growth.
Additional photos of the land have now been posted on the blog (www.casa-tortuga.blogspot.com) under the photo album section and named Alfonso Valle Castillo.
Incorporation of Nicaraguan S.A & Banking
The final step in this process has now been completed with the opening of a bank account for Casa Tortuga Nicaragua S.A. The bank we are using is called Banco Uno and they have offices throughout the country including Rivas which is the closest office to the island.
We wil soon transfer the funds necessary for the purchase of the land from the holding account in the Netherlands to the Nicaraguan account. The tranfer amount will be in the vicinity of US$45k. (The exact figure is dependent upon the officially mapped size of purchased property.)
Building & Layout Design
After consulting with the supervisory board, it has been decided that professional advice will be sought before the actual purchase of land.
To this end, José Luis Hernández of Arquitectos Ambientalistas in Managua is planned to visit the property with us on Wednesday 11th October in order to provide his expert opinion as to the suitability of the land for constructing the Eco-lodge and our ability to do this within our planned budget. This will be the beginning of Mr Hernández´s work with us and will extend, in time, to developing a building plan and architectural sketches.
Energy & Infrastructure
We have had our first meeting with Union Fenosa (power distributor) on the island and have been advised to visit the Masaya office once we have the land title and corresponding map in order to get official permission to connect to the existing power grid. With only the site-map we will be able to get a proposal from a private company who realize connections for Union Fenosa.
Creation of the road will be one of the first tasks undertaken on the land in order to facilitate vehicle access to the building platforms. It is believed that the development of the road will not require a bulldozer but rather utilize manual labour. We will be acquiring the professional opinion of our ecological architect in relation to the path that the road should take. This advice will supplement the knowledge management is currently acquiring.
Title Checks
Having reached a basic agreement with the Alfonso Valle Castillo Cooperative we are now focussing completely on this property which we have identified as the preferred site. The first legal check of the documents has come back positive. More recently we were recommended another reputable lawyer in Rivas and will be approaching them soon to commence the second independent title check.
Relocation of Casa Tortuga
Assuming the land purchase proceeds and finalizes, it will become ever more important for us to be closer to the property while we undertake planning, design and construction phases. To make this happen, we are currently enquiring as to the availability of rental properties on the island with a view to moving their in the next month or so. We will keep you posted.
Next Steps:
5th/10 – 11th/10 – Realize 2nd title check on property
6th/10 – Obtain official topographical plan/map
9th/10 – Visit Union Fenosa office in Masaya to obtain information
10th/10 - 11th/10 – Consult with José Luis Hernández of Arquitectos Ambientalistas
12th/10 – Arrange date for creation of Sale of Contract with Alfonso Valle Castillo Cooperative
Ongoing – Research into relevant ecological design & construction topics;
· Dry Composting Toilets
· Natural Swimming Pools
· Permaculture Design
· Earthbag Construction (Superadobe)
· Natural Plastering
· Road Construction
· Self Sufficiency
· Renewable Energy
· Interior Design
- Search for rental property on Isla de Ometepe
Important Sources:
Permaculture, A Designers Manual, Bill Mollison
Earthbag Building, Kaki Hunter and Donald Kiffmeyer
The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency, John Seymour
Building Green, Clarke Snell and Tim Callahan
International Technology Development Group – Practical Answers to Poverty, www.itdg.org
posted by Totoco Management at 3:42 PM
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